Andy Williams speaks about Summer Coaching Course
Tuesday 16 August 2011By ESFA Office
Last Updated:
10/02/2021 11:49:13
Andy Williams
esfa.co.uk caught up with England Schools' Football Team Manager, Andy Williams, to gain his thoughts ahead of the ESFA Summer Coaching & Development Course at Repton School, next week (22-26 August 2011).
"In many ways the Elite Instructional Course is the perfect way for the ESFA to kick-off the new season. It is an opportunity for our elite coaches to come together in a congenial atmosphere and work with some of the brightest schoolboy prospects in this country. Each year is special, and I have no doubt this year will be equally so.
We welcome 73 nominated players (Y12 & Y13) from 25 counties across the country. They will spend the week in four coaching groups, and over the course of the following five days they will be put through their paces in all aspects of the game. Our aim is to provide an elite environment and a coaching experience that will help these young men develop their personal skill levels and game understanding.
Each year we try to make the course even better than the last by making slight adjustments. One such development is the advancement in mental skills training. I am thrilled Mr Alan Thomson, Senior Lecturer Edge Hill University, and Mr Tom Bates, Birmingham City FC Peak Performance Coach, have accepted our invitations to deliver evening seminars on developing reflective practice.
This will be our second year at Repton; Repton Village and the grounds of Repton School provide the ideal setting. This esteemed educational institution provides the opportunity to embed the values and ambitions of the ESFA within the idyllic Derbyshire countryside. Our key message will be, whatever you accomplish in life it is more important to be a good person than to be a good footballer.
This will be my final summer course, so Friday will be a sad moment for me personally. I have coached eleven summer courses over the previous twelve years, but as I enter the final year of my U18 managerial tenure, I will pass the baton to my successor, Andy Buckingham. I have thoroughly enjoyed every single course and I don't quite know what I shall do with my spare time come August 2012! It truly has been a privilege and an honour to share my knowledge with so many players over the years, and to have worked with a group. I never see this week as work because I have always been surrounded by so many fantastic people from the ESFA who are true friends; I thank them all."
Related links:
www.esfa.co.uk/coaching
www.thefa.com/FALearning
